


Your Embrace

by Missdeath



Category: Berserk
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-13 23:57:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7991059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missdeath/pseuds/Missdeath
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Casca's awakening from Schierke POV</p>
            </blockquote>





	Your Embrace

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own none of the characters. They all belong to Kentaro Miura

We watched as she slowly rose from her slumber. Her movements shaky but she kept her composure. She had not recognised us yet and in that moment I took the time to look at that man towering in the room. His presence like a thick, ominous cloud bearing down on us.  
Worry was heavy on his face. Even without the strengthened telepathic connection we shared after I was caught in his armor I could tell that many things were going through his mind. Fear being the strongest of his woes.  
My concern returned to the ebony woman as she dangled her feet off the bed. The tension in the room becoming stifling as she looked up at us.  
She made a face as if bright light shown in her eyes as she scanned the room. Finally able to recognise our face her features slowly morphed into confusion.  
Her fists bundled within the sheets. She quickly backed away from us in order to have some space. Her eyes, wild but fierce scanned our faces diligently before stopping at one.  
No one needed to ask who she was looking at, we all felt it. We all felt the stifling aura of anxiety that emanated from him. It made me wonder how can a man this strong be brought to his knees by a woman this feeble.  
They never broke eye contact. I doubt they even knew we were there.  
Fists clenched to stop himself from shaking I watched as uncertainty riddled his face. His mouth was dry, he had no words but he searched for them. Searched for the right thing to say but that fear kept him hesitating... over thinking... regretting.  
We all saw how broken he would become when she would reject his presence but now should be different. Now she is... now she should be cured. He swallowed hard, prepared to break the silence between the them. Probably after reaching the same conclusion.  
Softly. Almost as if pleading we heard his voice.  
“ C... Casca...”  
“Gutts...” It was the first words she had spoken in almost three years. So soft, so broken. Filled with so much sorrow.  
Encouraged by the sound of his name from her lips he reached for her.  
Yes our journey had bore its fruit. She had been cured!  
“No don't touch me! Stay away!!” She screamed backing away from him.  
I watched as all the hope drained from his face leaving in its wake total despair. It was in that moment we realized that we had only made it to a small bench mark on our route. The end of our journey is still a ways to be seen.  
From the corner of the bed she shook, watching him with eyes so terrified. He had fallen to his knees his strength crushed beneath the weight of his despair. No longer able to hold back the surge of emotions flooding through him tears flowed from his eyes.  
We should not be here. This scene is was not for us to witness. I knew that. I knew the room should have been cleared the moment she told him to stay away. They needed their privacy. They deserved it after all these years... but I could not bring myself to give it to them. We were all curious... too curious. We wanted to understand the depth of the relationship between Guts and Casca. We wanted to know why he gave so much for this woman, whom; to us was so ordinary. We wanted to know. Even if that meant infringing on their privacy.  
He looked up at her with eyes that betrayed his deepest secrets. His strongest fears.  
Why..?  
After all this time...  
I need to...  
I have to...  
Casca, why can’t I..?  
“I know alright!” She blurted out. She had read the signs from his face so clearly as if he had spoken them himself.  
It amazed me that after all these years of being disconnected she was still able to tell what this man was feeling.  
“Guts I know that you want to touch me. That you want to hold me. I want to hold you too.” She drew closer to him. He remained where he was, too afraid to make any movements.  
“It's not right. Nothing is,” She backed away from him once more. She embraced herself in a corner. Building a wall between herself and him.  
Trembling violently she tightens the grip she had on herself.  
“Guts...” her voice barely audible. “I know you want to badly but...” she broke off, her body drenched in sweat. “just the mere thought of you touching me is disgusting.”  
Her words branded him like a curse. That grater than the one he now carried.  
I never thought I would live to see the day that man is completely destroyed... and by words no less.  
It was like the world crumbled beneath his feet. His soul ripped from his body. The moral stripped from every fibre of his being.  
How could she!? Does she know how much he has suffered for her!? Does she know...  
My rant was cut short by him raising to his feet.  
“C- Casca I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to... if my being here offends you I...” He paused. His lip caught between his teeth. Fists clenched he fought to regain his composure but his tears would not seize.  
“Casca if I offend you that much then I should leave. I’m sorry I wasn't able to protect you. I would have given anything... everything to keep you safe.” With that he turned to leave.  
No one could say anything. This was the shell of a man who had been broken after years of unimaginable suffering. What could we say? After all we were nothing but unscrupulous spectators.  
“Guts, please don’t leave.” She said clenching the sheets.  
He spun around wide eyed to look at her. She got out of the bed to be next to him. She went as close to him as she could bare. Looking up at his chiselled face she ghosts her hand over his features. He stiffened. Fighting back the urge to let those soft hands cup his face. To feel her warmth on his skin.  
“You think I don’t know that you would have given everything to protect me?” Her voice was soft, so angelic. Tears streaming down her face as she watched him.  
“I can see that you have. You changed so much since...” she trailed off. The memory too much for her to bare.  
“Your greying hair, your burnt flesh, your arm, your eye... I can see how much you’ve given. I know you would have given it all!”  
“ Casca...” He advanced toward her.  
“ No stop!” She demanded.  
He froze in his tracks.  
“I still can’t... I still can’t let you touch me.” She said, once again retreating back into the corner on the bed.  
“It's still too much for me Guts. I can’t take it. Your presence doesn’t offend me it’s just...” she took some time to calm herself.  
“Even if you can’t hold me I still want you by my side.” She said looking hopeful. “It’s been so long. I’ve been alone for so long. Guts I know it’s not enough but in time I think I can...”  
“I understand.” He told her, cutting her off.  
“Being near you is enough. I know that it will take some time before I can... before we can rekindle what was taken.”  
“Guts...” she looked up at him with eyes so tender.  
.

He smiled even though it was a feeble one, it was genuine.  
So this was unconditional love spawned from unimaginable pain. Like a beautiful day on a battlefield. A contrast so strong it brought tears to our eyes. It broke our hearts to see them like this. To see how they unintentionally burn the other. Their pain shown a light into the darkness of their past and we were able to get a glimpse of how far they have travelled as a coupled.  
What they had for each other was beautiful. It was by no means perfect but it was unique. It revealed a side of humanity that had been forgotten by those connected to the astrial realm.  
I cleared my throat to announce we were leaving but it did not have an effect. I suspect that from the moment she awoke and called his name he forgot that we were there with him.  
I understood now. She meant everything to him. Such devotion makes me wonder if he has enough room in his heart for us to matter as much to him.


End file.
